Under this Star Spangled Banner
by InsaneCookiez
Summary: New Zealand has been helped by America for as long as she can remember. But, now, she is her own country. Never forgetting what America has done for her, New Zealand has set her path towards becoming a country America would truly be proud of. AmericaxOC
1. Prologue

Under this Star Spangled Banner

Prologue

I stood there and only stared at the vast ocean scene which lay before me. England had abandoned this worthless piece of land with only two sentences. "Look for the larger countries! They'll support you more than I can!" With that, he left. I replayed that scene over and over within my mind. England was cruel. He left me here with little money and only a couple sentences to make sense of. Who would take me within their arms? The only person I knew other than England was Poland, but he wasn't doing too well either. No one would take me. No one.

My feet collapsed and I feel to my knees. I was alone…again. Last time I had England, but now he was gone. Without him, how could I possibly live? I had no money, no supplies, and no home to call my own. There was nothing for me to do but stay here and wait until I die.

Tears ran down the side of my face. I didn't want to die. I wanted to live and prosper like the others. But how could I do so without the supplies I needed? No one would help this miserable country. No one.

As the tears continuously ran down my face, I heard a voice behind me. Quickly, I stood up and wiped away the remaining droplets on my cheeks. There was no way I was going to let someone see me like this. Turning to greet the person, I stopped to take note of his appearance. He had short blonde hair with an antenna and dazzling blue eyes which were covered by black, square glasses. The man's clothing consisted of a dark brown coat with black fur trimmed edges, a light brown vest with matching slacks and tie, and dark brown boots which his slacks covered mostly. Boy, he sure liked the color brown.

**"Are you alright?"** The stranger asked with a slight concerned tone in his voice.

I quickly brushed my light brown hair from my face and replied, **"Yes, now leave me alone!"**

Obviously not impressed by this answer, the man drew closer towards me. I stepped back, but only to feel a cool sensation wrap around my foot.

**"GAH!"** I yelped. For some reason, it never occurred to me that water was okay and I could get both of my feet wet, so I just hopped on one foot like a complete idiot. And it gets worse; I somehow lost my balance and fell backwards. Of course, I reached for anything that could possibly stop my fall. Unfortunately, for the man, it was him I latched onto at the last second. So, down we went; water splashing in all directions and two human figures went catapulting into the water. Good thing it was shallow, though. If not, then we would have both most likely drowned.

I lie there in the shallow part of the ocean feeling like someone had run me over with a car…twice. It didn't feel too good. But, something soft had cushioned my fall. Hesitantly, I opened my eyes only to see an unhappy blond underneath me.

**"GAH!"** I yelped again, scrambling to get off him as fast as I could. During that process, I had somehow kneed him in the gut, smacked him in the head, and stepped on his foot. Whoops! Clumsily, I got to feet and held my hand out to this strange person.

**"S-Sorry about that."** I apologized.

For some odd reason, he only smiled and began laughing. I couldn't help but wonder if he was mentally retarded or something. I only snapped out of my thoughts once he had taken my hand. From there on, I helped him up. His laugh somehow made me want to laugh as well. So, like any normal person would do, I laughed along with this complete stranger. We laughed and laughed until our stomachs began to hurt, then we both fell over again. For some reason, I enjoyed every minute of being with this stranger. I didn't understand why, myself. I mean, I had never met this man before, yet I felt like he was my best friend. You know what I mean?

The man turned over on the warm, golden sand and looked at me. **"What's your name?"** He asked with a goofy grin spread across his lips.

I couldn't help but laugh and reply, **"New Zealand. But, call me Sophia."**

The man smiled and chuckled to himself. **"My name is America, but call me Alfred."** He held out his hand for me to shake, and, of course, I did.


	2. Chapter 1

Under this star Spangled Banner

**Chapter 1 - Confessions**

The cool ocean waves wrapped around my feet as I stood staring at the sunset in which I had come to love due to a particular event that occurred here not too long ago. This event was the most important day of my life. The day I met him, my hero, America. He helped me get through tough spots and, for that, I am thankful. I always thought I was such a bother to him, asking this man for so much help, yet he would only smile and, like a gentleman, aid me in whatever problem I had. Oh how I miss those days! We were so close then! Now, I'm my own country. I don't need any help from anybody else. That was unless wars broke out, of course. But, that never happened with me. I was always one of the peace keeping countries, never provoking and or starting war. Though, if it was for a good cause, then I might just join the mix. And if it also included him, I would fight without hesitation. I owed everything to this man. He helped me stand on my own two feet again and aided me in so many wars. How could I not repay him by doing this much?

Gazing at my watch, I realized the next world meeting would be very soon, maybe too soon, in fact. So, why wasn't I already on my way there? It was all too simple. My transportation was late, again. The driver, old and crippled, always wanted to take his sweet time at picking me up. But, alas, I said nothing to him about it. I guess the reason being is my niceness. How, exactly, am I nice? The other nations seem to think so, but I don't. I mean, I'm easily angered and talk back to people when I get the chance. How is that nice?

_BEEP! BEEP! _The sound of the car horn snapped me out of my thoughts. I got up, grabbed my ocean blue purse, and then proceeded in the car.

**"Where to, lassie?"** The old man asked in what seemed to be an old English accent.

**"The Conference Building, please."** I stated. Wasn't he supposed to know this already? Maybe his old age was finally catching up with his brain.

**"Of course." **The driver replied. He put the car into motion and drove a whopping thirty miles per hour.

I knew we were going to be late. In fact, we were already late as it was. I thought to myself, 'why isn't he hurrying! At this rate we're going to be the last ones there!'.

**"Driver, could you please hurry up? I am on a tight schedule…"**

The driver scowled at me. **"Don't get your panties in a knot, lassie. We're going to be there soon enough!"**

Excuse me? Did he just say what I think he said? I silently cursed him for his arrogance, but did nothing more. News would spread around from one nation to another about how the "innocent" New Zealand beat up her driver for going below the speed limit. I didn't care what everyone else would say. I only cared about what Alfred would say. He was my friend, my hero. I couldn't let him down with news such as this. It would embarrass him and he might not ever want to speak to me again! I would never be able to bear that.

For I have a confession to make... I may call America my best friend, but I feel something more for him. Not something as simple as a brother, sister relationship. It's even deeper than I can come to comprehend. I'm in love with Alfred F. Jones and forever wish to be by his side under this Star Spangled Banner.

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Took me long enough, didn't it? XD

Well, hop you enjoy Chapter 1...even though it's short. Please Review, though. I'd like to have some ideas, thoughts, and critiques on my story and or writing style.~


	3. Chapter 2

Under this Star Spangled Banner

Chapter 2 - Tardiness

An hour later the car rolled to a stop in front of the large complex in which the world meeting would be held today. I stepped out, slamming the car door behind me, and made a run for the, glass doorways which were the only things standing between me and tardiness at the moment. Glancing at the clock on the wall as I burst in the room, I noticed that I had less than a minute to make it down the hall. Crap. If I ran like Hell, I could make it in time...hopefully.

My eyes locked onto the conference room door and before I knew it, I was sprinting like mad, trying to reach the door before the clock struck nine. I could feel the door handle in my grasp and smell the sweet success of victory. I was going to make it in time. I knew I could! But, sometimes the world likes to work against you in an odd way. Just before my hand took the handle, I lost my footing and fell face-first to the deep blue, carpeted floor. I stayed there for a while in defeat, hearing the clock tick as if it were mocking my tardiness. That's when I finally realized that I needed a new driver. Maybe someone not so old and goes above two miles per hour.

I slowly picked myself off the ground and dragged my feet into the conference room. As I appeared inside the large room, several faces turned to look at me. A few shook their heads while others just stared. It didn't last long before they went back to their normal activites. I sighed with slight relief when I realized America hadn't noticed my late intrusion. It was a good thing he was too busy tormenting England. A slight scowl darkened my face. England...I hated him with a passion, but, somehow, America liked him. It's still a mystery to me as to how anyone can like a scone-eating bastard such as himself. That man deserved to be punched in the face...or worse. Slowly shaking my head, I quickly dismissed those thoughts from my mind. It was wrong to think like that towards anyone, but, truthfully, he did deserve it.

Glancing around the room, I took note of the chairs alligned around the large conference table and soon realized I wasn't seated yet. My eyes flashed in the direction of America. What luck! There was an empty seat beside him! I strode over there to sit when I realized there was someone else there. What. The. Crap. He wasn't there when I had last looked and that happened to be a few seconds ago. I stared at the man for quite a while, distinguishing his qualities. He looked to be about the same height as America, the same figure, the same face... What the Hell? Two Americas! No wait...that was Canada. Mentally facepalming myself, I decided it was best to sit down in a different location seeing as how all the chairs on this end were taken up. The only spare seat I could find was next to Australia and...France. Well, at least I had someone I was comfortable with on my right. Now about my left... Yeah, I was screwed for sure. I knew he was staring at me. I didn't even need to look at him to prove that he was...I could feel it. Shuddering under his heavy stare, I decided it was best to scoot a little closer to my Australia. So, of course, I did. Australia seemed to notice this and looked at me, curiously. **"Is something the matter, New Zealand?"** He asked with a slightly concerned tone in his voice.

**"...Not at all,"** I lied.

**"If you say so..."** With that, he turned back around and spoke with a few other countries about random things like economy, wars, and nation stuff like that. Quite boring, if you ask me.

A loud voice silenced the others in almost a mere second. It was Germany, of course. He was always the one who properly started these meetings. The World Conference started about economies, then went on about wars. Nothing much new here. Just the same old, boring nation crap. I didn't pay much attention seeing as how none of this affected my country at the moment. But, I did manage to listen a bit about a war or two I was a bit interested about.

It wasn't long before the thirty minute break was called and every nation got out of their seats excluding a few who just wanted to stay seated. I wasn't one of those few, so I got up and proceeded towards the bathroom like any other female country would do. When I was in the bathroom, I just stood there for a moment to take in all my surrounds. The bathroom had two sides to it separated by a giant cement wall. One side contained nothing but toilets while the other consisted of sinks and mirrors along with handdryers. Wow, big bathroom. The color, itself, was very...plain. The handdryers, sinks, and walls were completely white while the floor was tiled white and black. It didn't make sense to me why they would make it this color in the first place, but I just shrugged at my own though and strode over to one of the mirrors. There I got a good look at myself. My skin was slightly tanned which seemed to go along with my straight, dark brown hair that feel to half my back. People usually think I have black hair, but, truthfully, it is a dark brown...It just looks black. My figure wasn't all that much to be proud of either. I looked like a freaking pencil. No figure here, just a pencil with a flat chest. I sighed slightly. My appearance was so plain compared to the other girl nations. They were all so much prettier than me. I was jealous of them. I wanted to be beautiful so maybe America would notice me more often. Gazing at the mirror a little more thoughtfully, I did happen to notice one distinctive feature of mine. My eyes. They were a stunning emerald green. But, even with these eyes, I doubt I would still get him to notice me.

Checking the clock on the wall of the bathroom, I noticed the thirty minutes were just about up. I needed to head back to the Conference room right now or I would probably be late again. I don't think I could take those disppointed stares again, especially since America would probably be one of them this time. 

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Been a while, hasn't it? ='D Well, I'm continuing it after a year just because this has gotten so popular lately. I mean, every time I go in my email account, this is always there saying that someone fav'd it or something. Well, thank you all for the support! Without it, I wouldn't have continued.


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